Gringo Fantastico is a tormented luchador presenting Troma films from the safety of an abandoned recreation center in Tromaville. He is plagued by the French-Canadian Demon Piñata Francois who hurls insults and snide remarks throughout the episodes. The eight-episode season two premiered August 1st on Troma NOW and new episodes will be released on the first of each month.
CW // Troma aka every warning under the sun and some that don’t even exist yet
Gringo Fantastico (Nate Turnpaugh) returns to Tromaville in spectacular fashion with the season two premier of Fantastico Disasterpiece Theater on Troma NOW. He continues from the season one finale where he presents Lloyd Kaufman’s Return to Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1 (2013). This episode he hosts Return to… Return to Nuke ‘Em High aka Volume 2 for the premier.
Turnpaugh has the entirety of the Tromaverse at his disposal when deciding what to show on Disasterpiece Theater. For those unfamiliar with Troma or Kaufman, these movies “typically contain overt sexuality, nudity, and intentionally sadistic, gory, and blatant graphic violence,” according to Wikipedia. These movies are not for everyone, and Kaufman likes it that way.
Trouble in Tromaville
In an interview with Turnpaugh, he reveals the episode had a minor production issue which led to the original guest not being available for filming. “This episode, this script… it was a whole different script.” Amazingly, the episode was recalibrated and rewritten in three days to meet the shooting schedule. Turnpaugh holds a masters degree in screenwriting and his skill is on display despite the hasty rework.
The episode opens with a VHS recording of an interview with Fantastico from 1995. The interview goes wrong and Fantastico ends up storming away angrily. This is part of an ongoing narrative Turnpaugh is building with Fantastico. I am excited to learn more about the luchador’s tortured past.
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Your father underestimates you, I think.
Audiences are also treated to a Fantastico on Fantastico interview due to the aforementioned guest scheduling issue. He splits into two and much to his chagrin, Other Fantastico quickly teams up with Francios in bullying him.
He interviews himself about his past and makes reference to a highly censored film project he worked on. They also receive a call from the Guadalajarian government, but you need to tune in to see what that is all about.
Turnpaugh says this self-interview is his favorite part of the episode and attributes his love of body doubling in media surprisingly to The Parent Trap (1961). He is excited for audiences to see “the ridiculousness of the two Fantasticos.”
Dynamic Duo
Several pieces of media are treated to an homage throughout the episode. Despite thinking he eliminated Francois at the end of season one, the Demon Piñata pops up in the back seat of his ‘68 Firebird ala Psycho III (1986). When Projector Guy is pulled back into the recreation center, it is done with a brilliant classic Doctor Who reference. And how else would the Fantisticos reunite but a Dragon Ball fusion dance?
At the end of the episode, Fantastico quotes Teen Wolf (1985) and Francois angrily responds “You ruined something cool again with your movie quoting.” The dynamic between Fantastico and Francois sets DisasterpieceTheater apart. I have never seen such entertaining and vitriolic interactions between “co-hosts.” Francois rarely, if ever, has a nice thing to say about Fantastico.
Fantastico only sometimes has the energy to properly fight back against the demon. He frequently threatens the demon with a giant squirrel instead of attacking him directly. This is partly because, as Francois puts it, Fantastico is a “concussed asshole.”
That’s not candy!
It is becoming more and more evident there is much more to the Demon Piñata than audiences currently know. I am very much looking forward to watching the backstory for Francois Turnpaugh teased during our interview unfold throughout the season.
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When I ask, “Is Francois tormenting Fantastico or is Fantastico tormenting himself?” Turnpaugh laughs and responds “That’s actually the whole narrative of this season. Because it is all based around all Fantastico’s concussions and all of the PTSD and all of this weird stuff from all these crazy things that are happening.”
Turnpaugh doesn’t shy away from his own history with PTSD and its influence on the show. He says he has had PTSD for 20 years and “I try to make light of it so it doesn’t have so much of a stigma.” He hopes someone else out there who is struggling can see him and go “Maybe I can do that too.”
I agree with him and liken him to other horror hosts who serve as a beacon of hope to their audiences. He seems a little uncomfortable with being placed alongside them, but watching the show proves he has earned his praise.
My rating for the episode:
(4.2 / 5)
Future Trips to Tromaville
There are a lot of super cool guest interviews to look forward to this season including but not limited to Lloyd Kaufman himself, C. Robert Cargill, and Jonah Ray Rodrigues. Turnpaugh was also able to snag Toby Poser, John Adams and Lulu Adams of Adams Family Films. For those who watch The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, they were featured in season four with their film Hellbender (2021).
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Follow @realfantastico on the platform formerly known as Twitter to join in with the rest of the Fantasticats as they live-tweet each episode the Friday after release.
Kait (she/her) haunts the cornfields of the Midwest after being raised in a small Indiana town built on sickness and death. She consumes all sorts of horror-related content and spits their remains back onto your screen. You can follow her on Twitter at @ KaitHorrorBreak, where she live tweets The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs and posts other spooky things.
We’re back again with Goosebumps The Vanishing, episode two. A story too big for one episode, apparently.
Or, maybe this is just a nod to the fact that Stay Out Of The Basement was a two-part episode in the original 1995 show. Either way, after seeing this episode, we could have kept it to one.
The story
We begin this second episode with Anthony investigating the parasitic plant taking over his body. Rather than, I don’t know, going to the hospital, he’s decided to phone a colleague and send her some samples from the bulb he pulls out of his arm with a handheld garden trowel.
Meanwhile, Devin is having his own worries. He’s haunted by what he saw in the sewers. So, he gets CJ to go with him to investigate. What they find is more of the tendrils of the plant that dragged him down through the manhole last episode.
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I sure would have liked to see more about that.
Instead, we see Devin pivot to flirting with a newly single Frankie. Because teenage hormones I guess.
Meanwhile, Trey is having a terrible day. First, his girlfriend leaves him. Then, Anthony breaks his car window.
Needing a way to deal with his frustration, Trey decides to break into the Brewers’ basement. There, he starts wrecking up the place. Until he meets the plant creature and has an unfortunate accident.
What worked
The big difference between this episode and the last is the increased gross-out factor. This episode had some straight-up cringy moments. From the tendrils waiving from Anthony’s arm to the whole goat he brings home to feed his new pet, this episode was skin-crawling gross in the best way possible.
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The series is called Goosebumps, after all.
What didn’t work
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends. This episode, unlike the last, just wasn’t that great.
To start with, there was a lot of unnecessary drama between characters who are not in danger of being eaten by a plant from the inside out.
I especially disliked the focus on the Frankie/Trey/Devin love triangle.
Now, I don’t hate it. This part of the story adds extra emotional depth to the show. We can see why Trey would be especially incensed by his girlfriend falling for the son of the neighbor he’s feuding with. But it would be more enjoyable if it wasn’t so cliche and dramatic.
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I hate the way Trey tried to gaslight Frankie. It makes me dislike him when he should be a sympathetic character. I hate how whiny Devin is every time he talks to Frankie. And I hated the impassioned speech Frankie gives after Devin asks her why she was with Trey.
Listen, I understand what we’re going for here. Devin and Cece are not struggling financially. They’re doing alright, and their new friends here in Gravesend are not. We kind of got that without Frankie claiming that her socioeconomic status is why she’s dating a bully and gaslighter. It felt out of place. It felt like pandering. It certainly didn’t feel like something an eighteen-year-old would say. I hated it.
Finally, there was a moment near the end of the episode that irritated me. I don’t want to give too much detail because I wouldn’t dare ruin an R.L. Stine cliffhanger. But, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I get that we’re watching a show about a carnivorous plant that is going to wreak havoc on this family and neighborhood. I understand the suspension of disbelief. Some might even say I am a little too generous with it. So I can buy into a teenager being absorbed by a plant and turned into a monstrous version of himself.
I can’t buy into what happens at the end of this episode. It doesn’t make sense with the rules established. It certainly doesn’t make any sort of scientific or logical sense. It is a lazy moment meant to further the storyline but threatens the structural integrity of the season.
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All in all, this wasn’t the best episode of Goosebumps. But it’s only the second episode. Honestly, the season has plenty of time to go either way.
The movie monsters always approach so slowly. Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream. It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry – It takes forever for them to catch their victims. And yet no one ever seems to get away.
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry – Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly… And yet no one ever seems to get away. Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly… While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream. Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it? The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
So my father used to enjoy telling the story of Thriller Nite and how he’d scare his little sister, my aunt. One time they were watching the old Universal Studios Monsters version of The Mummy, and he pursued her at a snail’s pace down the hallway in Boris Karloff fashion. Both of them had drastically different versions of this tale, but essentially it was a true Thriller Nite moment. And the inspiration for this poem.
Episode six of Dexter Original Sin brings us Dex’s third kill, making him officially a serial killer.
Yay!
The story
This episode dealt with many things. The first, and clearly most interesting, is the kidnapping of Nicky Spencer, the police captain’s son, whom we met a few episodes ago.
This loss has sent the entire police force into an uproar. They need to find the killer fast before Nicky’s found hanging from a bridge.
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Unfortunately, Harry’s still on the sidelines for this one, after horribly messing up the case against Levi Reed. He’s instead working with LaGuerta in a case regarding a dead homeless man. Despite the different victims, types of death, and the fact that they don’t appear to be related at all. Except that Dexter believes they are. They are, in fact, the first murderers of a blossoming serial killer. Just like him.
Before Dex can lean into this investigation, though, he’s drug along on a double date with Deb, Sophia and Gio. And here, we see the first shadows of danger from Gio. Shadows that will almost certainly turn into a monster.
What worked
I would first like to acknowledge that, despite my irritations, Gellar did well in this episode. She didn’t have Whedon’like one-liners. She didn’t exist to give snappy comebacks with a side of girl boss.
She looked as though she’d aged. She was serious. She behaved like a real person who felt terrible about what was happening.
And, just to shout out the costume department, she looked washed out. Yes, that is a good thing. Let me explain.
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White is not a good color on her. At least not that shade. It made her look bad. This is not something that Sarah Michelle Gellar would choose to wear.
But it is something that Tanya Martin would choose to wear. And I love that. I love when shows and movies let people look bad because they’re more interested in being true to the character and not focusing on everyone looking as hot as possible at all times.
I also want to discuss Gio, Deb’s boyfriend.
Gio scares me. And I think that most women watching this will feel the same way.
Not girls. Not teenagers or even some young women. But adult women, I’m willing to bet, do not like Gio after this episode.
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It was the scene at the bar. The part where he got in the face of the guy who spilled Deb’s drink. There was danger in that scene. Gio didn’t want an apology. He didn’t want to make sure Deb was okay. He didn’t even want the drink replaced. He wanted a reason to hurt that stranger. Because at that moment he was furious. And the only way to handle that fury for him was pain.
Gio is a very dangerous man. I’ll be very surprised if this season doesn’t end with Dexter having to take him out.
What didn’t work
At this point, we have a lot going on. We have Nicky’s kidnapping. We have Dexter finding himself as a serial killer. We have the flashback storyline with Laura and Harry. We have the dangerous Gio and the likely in-danger Sophia. And we have these murders of drifters and homeless people that the team is now investigating.
That’s a lot. It’s more than what can be followed comfortably. And that doesn’t even consider the one or two-episode arches like Levi, Nurse Mary or Tony Ferrer. A lot is going on, and a lot to keep track of. And it’s hard to believe, seeing what we’ve seen from this franchise and knowing what we know about how they handle endings, that these are all going to have satisfying endings. Especially since I haven’t heard anything about a season two.
We have four episodes left in this season, and I am expecting the storylines to start heating up. As of right now, we have way too many that don’t have enough to do with each other. But as we get closer to episode ten, I would expect these loose threads to knot together and form a noose around the neck of our dashing Dexter.